I actually punched the air out of joy and how cool the idea was. I gave 'em eight bucks, and I plan on a dollar per new issue (and I'm definitely gonna buy the whole series). ]]>
Panel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350287#Comment_350287
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350287#Comment_350287Thu, 21 Mar 2013 10:01:19 -0500William Joseph DunnPanel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350323#Comment_350323
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350323#Comment_350323Fri, 22 Mar 2013 07:53:01 -0500Michael NimmoPanel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350344#Comment_350344
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350344#Comment_350344Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:07:35 -0500ebullientsoulWith respect, I disagree about it being a model only someone of BKV's stature could do. This is bandcamp, but for comics. And not even bandcamp, since bandcamp is a middleman and with Panel Syndicate being a BKV/Martin joint, BKV/Martin are the middleman. ]]>
Panel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350347#Comment_350347
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350347#Comment_350347Fri, 22 Mar 2013 18:59:57 -0500William Joseph DunnPanel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350352#Comment_350352
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350352#Comment_350352Fri, 22 Mar 2013 20:34:53 -0500ebullientsoulWe begin.

What's the definition of successful? Most indie bands people like don't even have a middle class existence and don't make digital sales their only revenue stream.

Bandcamp isn't a magic money portal, but it's a service that's free to sign up for if you're an artist and tells you its terms outright. (15%, until you make $5,000 and then it drops to 10%. And yes, that does not include the PayPal cut.) Bandcamp isn't going to replace a label that will front you money to record music or draw comics, but once you have music/comics in hand, bandcamp makes it easier to get money for a digital copy.

Given that Comixology is the major digital player and that's a thing that takes anywhere between 47% and 82.5% (using Jim Zub's numbers), bandcamp is a better deal by orders of magnitude. As to how this applies to comics, the team still needs to make the comic before they sell it and that still requires an upfront investment. But, again, once you have something, you can sell it on the internet with something like bandcamp, but really Panel Syndicate now.

If an independent comic was going to achieve its goals on Comixology anyway, I can't imagine that team making less on Panel Syndicate (or a like service) than Comixology.

(Commercial break to remember that PayPal will freeze your account if they see you getting too much money and then take months at a time to unfreeze the account.)

Back to Panel Syndicate. Say you're, let's say idly, Brian Azzarello. (I use Azzarello because he's recognizable, could in theory be working on something creator owned and most importantly, doesn't visit this board.) The fixed costs of putting together the 100 Bullets team are going to stay the same, or go up with the cost of living. But, if you're not worried about print costs, which add, apparently an entire dollar to the three bucks a reader pays for an issue, it makes the break even point more manageable. Add PayPal and bandwidth costs to this, for a better idea of what it's going to run you.

As for page rates and how much it's going to cost, I'll let people with knowledge talk, but the endpoint is this: If you're doing a monthly 20 odd page comic, is the team willing to gamble they can pull in anywhere between 5,000-15,000 people at $1.50 an issue on the internet? For a lot of teams, I suspect the answer is no, but for known quantities like the 100 Bullets crew, I imagine it's tempting.

EDITED AND POURED OVER MANY TIMES BECAUSE I'M USING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE NUMBERS AND WANT TO GET OUT IN FRONT OF THE IDEA THAT I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE MY NUMBERS MAKE SENSE.

tl;dr I may be wrong. ]]>
Panel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350366#Comment_350366
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350366#Comment_350366Sat, 23 Mar 2013 03:46:06 -0500Michael NimmoWhat I meant was that someone of BKV's stature could garner the interest in a 'Pay What You Want' model over someone starting out or without the reputation. ]]>
Panel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350374#Comment_350374
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350374#Comment_350374Sat, 23 Mar 2013 08:48:36 -0500William Joseph DunnPanel Syndicate and THE PRIVATE EYEhttp://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350397#Comment_350397
http://freakangels.com/whitechapel/comments.php?DiscussionID=11019&Focus=350397#Comment_350397Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:36:59 -0500ebullientsoulI think the model itself is the story here and that if it was somebody else the news would be almost as big, but not quite. BKV coming back to comics almost certainly helps with the story's profile. As for whether they'd get traction, I'd bet that they'd get enough money to continue making the comics without becoming homeless, since you need to sell less copies to make the same amount of money than if you went physical/comixology. But again, I could be very wrong. ]]>